#53424: — 12/11  at  12:17 PM
Wow.. Good thing Christians rarely go on Jihad against filmmakers..

-jcr

#53427: Zeno — 12/11  at  12:43 PM
Well, at least it's better than Mel Gibson's version. Because it's shorter.

#53429: Ken Cope — 12/11  at  01:12 PM
Not nearly so tasteless as Mel's Jeezo-Pr0n.

#53435: — 12/11  at  01:46 PM
On the topic of Christian mythology, here is an excerpt from Gerald Massey:

Four consecutive scenes reproduced in my book are found pourtrayed upon the innermost walls of the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Luxor, which was built by Amenhept III., a Pharaoh of the 17th dynasty. The first scene on the left hand shows the God Taht, the Lunar Mercury, the Annunciator of the Gods, in the act of hailing the Virgin Queen, and announcing to her that she is to give birth to the coming Son. In the next scene the God Kneph (in conjunction with Hathor) gives the new life. This is the Holy Ghost or Spirit that causes the Immaculate Conception, Kneph being the spirit by name in Egyptian. The natural effects are made apparent in the virgin's swelling form.

Next the mother is seated on the mid-wife's stool, and the newborn child is supported in the hands of one of the nurses. The fourth scene is that of the Adoration. Here the child is enthroned, receiving homage from the Gods and gifts from men. Behind the deity Kneph, on the right, three spirits--the Three Magi, or Kings of the Legend, are kneeling and offering presents with their right hand, and life with their left. The child thus announced, incarnated, born, and worshipped, was the Pharaonic representative of the Aten Sun in Egypt, the God Adon of Syria, and Hebrew Adonai; the child-Christ of the Aten Cult; the miraculous conception of the ever-virgin mother, personated by Mut-em-ua, as mother of the "only one," and representative of the divine mother of the youthful Sun-God.

These scenes, which were mythical in Egypt, have been copied or reproduced as historical in the Canonical Gospels, where they stand like four corner-stones to the Historic Structure, and prove that the foundations are mythical.

#53436: David Mazel — 12/11  at  01:49 PM
How about a film about Giordano Bruno featuring, oh, about twenty minutes worth of the poor guy's flesh roasting and sizzling in the flames of his auto da fe?

#53440: Weakly World News — 12/11  at  02:14 PM
Great!

Here's my take on how Bruce Lee would have made "The Passion".

#53441: Ken Cope — 12/11  at  02:16 PM
The difference between Passion of the Benny Hill, and the Death of Giordano Bruno with Yakety Sax and cartoon SFX, is that nobody made a snuff film about GB tortured to death by the State at the conmand of the local theocracy so its audience could ecstatically soak in lurid, salvation-charged Kensington gore.

You know how Muppets in 3D at Disney World splash you with an actual drop of water as a stereoscopic squirt gun is deployed in the film? MG had to have been disappointed that he couldn't rig up every theater exploiting Passion that way.

The torturous murder by Theocracy of a human being, played for black humor and framed as it was, is far less appalling than reveling in MG's snuff film for some visceral religious charge. As satire, not even a Bush-packed SCotUS could condemn it.

#53451: Cameron — 12/11  at  04:31 PM
Not sure I see how either Bruno's or Jesus' death is amusing. Even if you are convinced that no Jesus' died that way, it's certain that people died that way and that death's don't come much worse.

So much anger.

#53453: — 12/11  at  04:43 PM

Even if you are convinced that no Jesus' died that way, it's certain that people died that way and that death's don't come much worse.

So much anger.

True. And even if you are convinced that no Stooge died that way, it's certain that some people have been hit in the head with sledgehammers and it didn't dent the sledgehammer nor make a gong sound.

So much nyuk nyuk nyuking.

#53459: Weakly World News — 12/11  at  05:58 PM

Even if you are convinced that no Jesus' died that way, it's certain that people died that way and that death's don't come much worse.

Oh. But since Jesus supposedly jumped up alive again a few days later - better than ever in fact, we figured it was no big deal.

Remember....Jesus had a bad weekend for your sins.

#53461: Cameron — 12/11  at  06:43 PM
"Oh. But since Jesus supposedly jumped up alive again a few days later - better than ever in fact, we figured it was no big deal."

Not sure you got my point.

#53466: — 12/11  at  08:00 PM
Did you have one?

#53467: — 12/11  at  08:09 PM
Monty Python made sport of the death by crucifixion of Jesus, a partially or completely mythical character. Real people were crucified thousands of years ago.

Monty Python made a comedy with fictional characters dying from smallpox. Real people died from it - several orders of magnitude more than died from crucifixion.

In Dr. Strangelove, Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong comically rode a nuclear warhead to his and millions of others' deaths. Real people have been killed by nuclear weapons. Lots of them.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Raindeer made entertainment out of Rudolph, a fictional character, being teased and not allowed to play reindeer games. Real people by the millions have been teased as children and not picked for games, and it's still happening all the time.

What is the difference between the four examples above?
Nothing - all are examples of entertainment being made out of the misfortune of largely or completely fictional characters. If we eliminated all comedy that was based on some character's misfortune, we wouldn't have much left but knock-knock jokes.

The only possible reason the crucifixion of the largely if not totally mythical Jesus Christ 2000+ years ago is any less suitable for joking than anything else is if you have some sort of reverence for or belief in that character. If you do, then your upset is understandable. Go ahead and enjoy it.

But don't expect those of us who don't see much difference between Jesus and Rudolph to worry any more about a Jesus worshipper's reaction than you would about some Rudolph-worshipping guy in a psych ward's reaction.

If your point is that we should exhibit some sympathy for the feelings of Christians, I would assert that atheists have shown far more respect for the concerns of the religious than the religious have for ours.

When in the words "atheist" and "secular" no longer are synonyms for evil and immoral in the minds of most people - then they may be just starting to close that gap.

#53470: Cameron — 12/11  at  09:02 PM
"If your point is that we should exhibit some sympathy for the feelings of Christians, I would assert that atheists have shown far more respect for the concerns of the religious than the religious have for ours."

Not my point at all. I just don't find suffering very funny. And before you say that I must be terribly boring, I would point out that when misfortune is presented as comedy, there is usually no attempt to exhibit the full scope of the pain involved. I don't recall anyone voiding his bowels at the shock of having a nail forced through his wrist bones in Life of Brian.

#53473: Weakly World News — 12/11  at  09:18 PM

I don't recall anyone voiding his bowels at the shock of having a nail forced through his wrist bones in Life of Brian.

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it

The Pythons voided their bowels in song.

#53476: Cameron — 12/11  at  09:58 PM
Yeah, you're right--pretty much the same thing.

#53477: — 12/11  at  10:06 PM
Remember....Jesus had a bad weekend for your sins.

Without sounding too cheesy, thank you for this line. It's truly a gift I'll revisit for the rest of my life.

#53478: Weakly World News — 12/11  at  10:22 PM

Yeah, you're right--pretty much the same thing.

Yep. Both are popular fictions.
The difference is that the Eric Idle character stayed dead and so is more worthy of pity.

#53481: Cameron — 12/11  at  10:45 PM
dude, www, that was profoundly inane.

#53482: Cameron — 12/11  at  10:59 PM
wwn. excuse me.

#53508: DouglasG — 12/12  at  10:14 AM
When the Romans quelled the uprising by Spartacus, they crucified thousands of slaves along the Apian Way. It was the standard form of execution for them. It wasn't just a few, it wasn't just hundreds, but thousands of people were crucified by the Romans. By the time of Jesus, they had it down pretty good.

#53520: Jim Harrison — 12/12  at  11:30 AM
Historical improbability isn't the real problem with the Christ story. The fundamental irrationality of the tale is the notion of atonement itself. A mother who perishes in the course of defending her children can be said to have died for another person. Somebody, however blameless, who is tortured to death does not thereby accomplish anything. The suffering is only meaningful if you buy into the magic causality of sacrifice.

#53535: Cameron — 12/12  at  12:42 PM
"The suffering is only meaningful if you buy into the magic causality of sacrifice."

My point was that the suffering is always suffering.

#53539: Ken Cope — 12/12  at  12:56 PM
My point was that the suffering is always suffering.

Is Daffy Duck's suffering when his bill is shot askew and he has to spin it around before he can say, "You're despicable," always suffering?

Who suffers more? The Duck, or Sylvester's succotash? Brian, Eric Idle, or that guy fictional character from the dead and resurrected god story that springs magically back to life?

Now if you want crucifiction plus funny, look no further than Sam Kinnison.

#53545: — 12/12  at  01:39 PM
Not to my taste. I'm an ex-Christian to whom the Passion narrative no longer has any personal relevance, but at the least (fictional or not) it's still a story about some poor bugger who ran afoul of the PTB and got tortured to death horribly -- something which has happened, and still happens, far too often. I think that alone means it deserves better than the comic sound-track. Of course, some would argue that it also deserves better than to be the subject of Mel Gibson's manipulative gore-fest in the first place. They're probably right. Perhaps one's reaction to this depends on whether one takes it as mocking the whole idea, or only the movie (which I haven't seen, and have no intention to).

For actual funny (as opposed to mindlessly mocking) spoofs of the subject, I prefer Life of Brian.